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It’s mango and jackfruit season at the sanctuary and, as we’ve shown in years before, the mangoes fall from the trees and are absolutely everywhere. Recently, we had a storm that knocked most of the mangoes from the trees, so we’re collecting them as quickly as we can to distribute them all over the property for wildlife and for treat buckets. Each year we freeze some, but the girls aren’t necessarily fans of them once they’ve been frozen. Not every elephant loves mangoes. Lady, Rana, and Maia are fans, but Bambi is not. Mara will eat some, but not too many. All of the girls eat the pits except Rana, who occasionally decides she would rather spit them out. 

Jackfruit is a more controversial fruit among humans. It seems that you either love them or hate them. They undoubtedly have a distinct scent, but the elephants don’t seem to mind. In fact, when the 4-wheelers with the jackfruit head out toward the habitat, the girls can already smell them. While Rana enjoys them as much as she does mangoes, both Maia and Lady really love jackfruit. In fact, Maia is such a super fan that we’ve used jackfruit to get her out of the chute once she’s taking one of her signature naps. Literally only jackfruit worked. You can see Lady here, picking up pieces and absolutely savoring every bite.